LEGAL A/N: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss Whedon, 20TH Century Fox Television, UPN, The WB and CW. 24 and all characters belong to Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow, 20TH Century Fox Television, Imagine Television, Real Time Productions and Fox Network. No profit is being made off of this and no copyright infringement is intended.

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 3:00 A.M. AND 4:00 A.M.

3:00:00 A.M. PST

Buffy Summers marched through the door connecting the training room to the rest of the Magic Box where Tara and Dawn were sitting apprehensively as they glanced at their watches. As soon as the Slayer walked in, the apprehension reached a new level when they viewed her stern look. Jack, Xander and Willow rushed in after her, all with the same type of urgency in their steps.

Buffy moved to the phone, lifted the receiver and pressed 'speakerphone.' "This is Buffy Summers," she announced as she hung up the receiver.

Anya's voice came over loud and clear. "Buffy!"

"Anya, are you alright?" Buffy asked.

"I'm… I'm fine," she breathed in response. There was a distinct sound of fear and anxiety interred in her words. "Is-is Xander there?"

"I'm right here, Ahn," Xander blurted.

"I can't talk to him," Anya explained. "I can only talk to you… They… they won't let me."

"Who are they?" Buffy asked. "Where are you?"

"They're letting me make this call to… tell you that they want a trade." Buffy's eyes flew over to Jack's as they stared at each other with grim looks. Willow and Tara turned to each other with baffled expressions as well.

"A trade?" Buffy whispered to herself in confusion, staring down at the phone.

"They're going to let me go," Anya answered.

"For what?" Buffy asked.

Anya darkly replied with an apologetic tone, "You." Dawn instantly turned to Buffy, shaking her head 'no' decidedly. Buffy pulled her eyes off of the phone to see Dawn, then turned to Xander who had lost, sad eyes. Jack, Willow and Tara remained in their puzzled states. "I'm sorry, Buffy," Anya added. "It's what they want."

Buffy was silent for several seconds of deep contemplation. "What do they want?" she finally asked, causing Dawn more silent panic.

"You be here in an hour," Anya sighed, "…alone. And they'll let me go. I don't know what happens after that, I'm so sorry…"

"No," Jack declared, shaking his head with a firm scowl. "We're gonna need more than that."

"They're serious, Buffy," Anya exclaimed with a regretful tone. "The only way I'm going to leave is if you come for me." Her voice tightened after she swallowed hard, "They told me that if you're not here at 4:00… they're going to kill me." Xander looked up at Buffy with an alarmed expression. He pulled away from the phone and covered his face in his hands nervously. Buffy watched him as Anya added, "That's all they'd tell me, I swe—"

"I'll do it," Buffy cut her off with a voice of resolve.

"Buffy!" Dawn turned to her with a shocked, offended look.

"Where's the trade?" Buffy asked, hurdling herself down the snow-covered hill.

Jack held up his hands, shaking his head, "Wait a second—"

"Where, Anya?" Buffy demanded stubbornly with frustration.

"There's an alley behind the bank," Anya explained, "on Lancaster Square near the college."

"I know it," Buffy nodded.

She continued, "Crawl down into the sewers and walk north. You'll eventually come to a hatch door that's not supposed to be there. The combination is right 8, left 29, and right 88. Once you're inside, I'll be there."

Buffy stared ominously at the phone with a clenched jaw and eyes full of a looming doom. "So will I."

Anya whispered in reply with a voice of gratefulness, "Thank you." A few moments later, she followed it up with a tone of remorse, "I'm… so sorry." The line disconnected instantly, leaving nothing but a dial tone in its place. Buffy pressed the button which silence the tone.

"Are you out of your mind?" Dawn exclaimed in protest.

"Dawn," Buffy somberly pleaded, staring down at the phone, "please don't."

"You're just walk up to them and give yourself away!" Dawn sharply protested. "That's crazy!"

"I don't have any other choice," Buffy stated.

"What if they kill you?" her sister continued frantically. "And we don't even know what or who they are!"

"She's right," Jack answered with an agitated voice. "Something's not right. I mean, think about it. Why would a government facility have something as primitive as a combination lock separating itself from a sewer tunnel?"

"So we gang up," Xander declared, spinning around and facing the group. His face was deep in worry, torn between his friend and his fiancé once again. "We go together."

"You heard what she said," Buffy declared. "I'm going alone."

Willow breathed, "With sympathy for the major jam you're in, isn't that edging a little on… suicidal?"

Dawn begged angrily, "Buffy, you can't—"

"This is the way it's going to be," Buffy declared with determination.

Her sister spat in a furious sense of desperation, "You know just because you want to die as fast as you can doesn't mean you have to try so hard!"

"That's enough!" Buffy snapped. Dawn turned away and raced out of the room, running towards the basement and slamming the door behind her.

Jack matter-of-factly declared, his own frustration seeping into his voice. "You're being set up!" he pleaded. "Don't you see that?"

"Of course I do!" Buffy sighed. "There aren't any other options!"

He shouted, "Maybe that's because you're too caught up in yourself to consider any!"

Buffy spun around to face him with a glare. "The important thing is to get Anya back! And I can handle myself alone. I'm not a little girl."

"Then stop acting like one!" Jack roared. Buffy reeled back with burning anger as she stared at him, stunned. He froze in place, a horrible rage burning inside.

Slowly, he stepped back away from her, turned and marched out of the shop as well. Buffy, Willow, Tara and Xander stared at each other in silence.

3:08:45 A.M. PST

Tony Almeida, dressed in a white undershirt and dark green pajama pants, pulled open the kitchen door of his home. Michelle was behind him in a bathrobe pouring a pot of black coffee into three mugs.

"Were you followed?" Tony asked as Chloe O'Brian walked in, carrying a messenger bag on her shoulder.

"Jeez," she growled, "no! What do you think I am, stupid?"

Tony gave her an agitated look as his shoulders dropped. "Hi, Chloe," Michelle responded, giving her husband a glance.

"Hello, Michelle," Chloe answered, staring at her thankfully. "Thank you for greeting me." She stared at Tony with a displeased expression as she set her messenger bag on the counter of the dimly lit kitchen.

"What's the situation, Chloe?" Tony rolled his eyes.

"Jack's been living in a town called Sunnydale, two hours north of here under the name James Dawson," she explained as she pulled her laptop computer out of the bag and began to set it up. "Earlier tonight, there was a hostage situation which was contained, but that led to a kidnapping and a woman has been taken by same military people that tried to kill Jack in the hostage situation."

"Knowing Jack," Tony began, "this is about trying to get the woman back, right?'

"That's Jack for you," Chloe answered, turning the computer on.

"Should we assume that his identity's been compromised?" Michelle asked.

Chloe frowned, "Only to a few people so far, but Jack says they don't pose a significant threat."

"What's the status of the hostels in the hostage situation?" Tony asked.

"Dead," the computer-nerd answered.

"Damn," Tony shook his head with frustration.

"That's what I thought," Chloe responded with a baffled expression, "but Jack kept telling me that there was nothing to worry about… as if the police wouldn't ask any questions. He said there was no evidence that connects him to it and the bodies were gone."

"What?" Tony shook his head, puzzled.

Michelle asked, hanging Chloe a coffee mug, "Were they well-armed?"

"Extremely," said Chloe. "It's not unlikely that they're all government-issued."

"By this… Initiative base?" Tony asked.

"It's underneath the UC-Sunnydale campus," Chloe answered. "Part of some sort of covert sting operation into the activity of the town." She frowned even more than usual as she added, "Or at least that's what Jack's friend said."

Tony repeated, "Jack's friend?"

Chloe sighed with disappointment and suspicion as she mocked every syllable of her name. "Some chick named Buffy Summers."

"You don't trust her?" Tony asked, glancing at Michelle as they both picked up on the discomfort in her voice.

"Well, what kind of a name is Buffy anyway?" Chloe complained jealously with a sigh. Michelle and Tony looked back at each other again as the computer analyst continued, sitting down on a stool at the kitchen bar. "Sounds like one of those cheerleader blondes who are always quirky and… sociable." She huffed with disgust, having had too much awkward and possibly scarring experience with that kind at the public schools she had been to in her lifetime.

Tony sighed, rolling his eyes once more. "Okay… So what are our priorities here?"

"I suggest our main priority should be figuring out who's running the Initiative and what plans they have for Sunnydale," Michelle declared. It was evident that after running CTU through some of its toughest decisions, like her husband, she could at least still run the people standing in her kitchen.

"Uh," Chloe interrupted with an awkward, hesitant tone. "There's… another thing."

"What is it?" Tony asked.

Chloe didn't know where to begin. "Jack said… something about… vampires." Tony and Michelle turned to her as she added, "That they were behind this." The two of them blankly stared at her for several seconds of dead silence.

Michelle's eyes firmly placed on Chloe, she responded, "I'm going to do a background check on Buffy Summers. Check and see if any possible drug-related activity is attached to her name."

"Good call," said Tony, also still staring at Chloe incredulously. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear what Chloe just said and work with her on hacking into the Initiative." Michelle nodded and moved out of the kitchen to the personal computer in the office of the home.

3:16:51 A.M. PST

Buffy stood alone in one of the storage rooms beneath the Magic Box. The small room littered with crates and shelves was significant because it was where most of the weapons, including the heavy mystical artillery, were kept. There was also a set of iron bars lining one side of the room, where Giles kept several old gargoyle statues which Buffy didn't see the necessity of keeping behind bars.

The Slayer was outside of the cage with her foot on a crate as she lifted up her pant leg and placed a hunting knife into a sheath on her ankle. She heard a light scratch from behind her as she turned and saw Jack standing in the doorway with a meek expression.

"Bring me any Barbies to play with?" she scoffed, turning away from him. "I need some to go over my strategic assault." A frown was planted firmly on her face and he could feel the ice in her voice.

Jack replied, while staring at the ground and choosing his words carefully and calmly, "I overreacted earlier." Even through his calmness, his mounting frustration was still audible.

"No," Buffy cut him off sourly as she glanced back at him. "You stepped way out of line."

"I apologize for my choice of words," Jack answered, staring at her with a stubborn gaze, "but I won't change my opinion. What you're doing is ridiculous. It's practically a suicide mission."

Buffy haughtily announced, "A round of applause for Mr. Sacrifice, please—"

"Don't," Jack glared at her. Buffy silenced herself immediately.

They stared at each other for several moments, before she began again with a sobered demeanor. "I believe that I have a fighting chance," Buffy explained. "I also think that this is the only chance we've got. I'm not going to risk Anya's life by bringing us all out there."

"We don't even know their motives," Jack argued. "We're still not even sure who they are. Hasn't a Watcher ever told you the importance of knowing your enemy before you confront it?"

Buffy exclaimed witheringly, "We don't have any more time!"

"Buffy," Jack answered, with a more pleading tone, "you have to—"

"Jack…" Buffy whispered, cutting him off as she closed her eyes and shook her troubled head. A small sense of desperation could be heard in her voice. "I can't argue this anymore, just… please…" He stared at her for several moments as his face fell flat and he recoiled his opposition.

Buffy glanced down at the ground with heavy eyes as he stared at her with a sigh. "I can't convince you otherwise," Jack said, shaking his head with pity, "but at least take this." He stepped forward and handed her a black, metal canister. Buffy stared down at it, then glanced back up at him. He gazed at her compassionately and declared with a slight nod, "Be careful."

They stared at each other in silence, the Slayer clearly caught off guard. Jack pulled his hand away, leaving the canister in her hand, and quickly marched back towards the door. Buffy glanced down at the canister, then called out, "Jack!"
He stopped and turned towards her, reading the deep gratitude in her green eyes. "Thank you," she smiled. A confused expression came over him as she explained, "For today." The two heroes stood miles apart, but were at once joined by something deeper than destiny and calling.

Jack gave her another rare smile, then walked out of the room and left Buffy to herself.

3:22:19 A.M. PST

Buffy arrived from the basement into the front store of the Magic Box with her favorite crossbow in her hands. She paused in the doorway to see Willow sitting on the floor with a book in her lap, Xander pacing nervously behind the counter, Jack standing beside the window as he cautiously gazed out, Tara carrying a thick blanket intended for the ailing Spike, and Dawn sitting against the wall with a pitiful expression.

"It's time," she told them as they stared in wary silence.

The Slayer glanced over at her little sister to see a cold expression on the young teenager's face. Dawn pushed herself off of the wall and up off the floor, storming out of the room in disgust. As the door to the store room slammed, Buffy heard the cracking of her heart. She stared down at the ground for several seconds as the rest of them watched her closely. With a deep breath, she raised her head with a nod.

"Tara, I'm handing Anya your cell phone," she continued. "Expect a call around four." Tara nodded with understanding as Buffy headed for the door.

"Buffy," Willow said as she came to a stand. She rushed over and threw her arms around her best friend. "Please, be careful."

Buffy hugged her tightly but stared down with a hidden expression of impending catastrophe. "I will." The two girls released each other as she glanced over at Xander.

"Thank you," he declared as he walked over and embraced her tightly as well. When he let go, Buffy and Jack made eye contact once more. The two of them shared a knowing look as she turned away and walked out of the store, the bell ringing as the door opened and closed.

They were silent for several moments as they stood in the store after she had left; the calm before the inevitable storm.

"I'm going to go check on Spike," Xander quickly declared as he headed for the basement and disappeared in a flash.

Jack moved away from the door and declared, "Someone needs to look in on Dawn."

"I'll do that," Tara offered.

"I'm going to check on our guest," Jack stated as he walked to the training room.

Willow sat back down on the floor, all alone, with an unconfident expression. "I'll keep reading."

3:43:44 A.M. PST

"I'm in," Chloe declared as she sat in front of her laptop computer at the kitchen bar of the Almeida home. Tony rushed up beside her, holding his Chicago Cubs mug full of black coffee. Both of them stared at the screen as schematics of the underground Initiative base dating back to 1999 appeared. Tons more information was available to them, but most of it was conflicting.

"What?" Chloe declared, gazing at the screen.

"It says that the base is currently inhabitable," Tony said, shaking his head. "It was sealed with concrete in 2000." He glanced over at Chloe. "How could anybody be working out of there?"

"Maybe it was never sealed like it was supposed to be," Chloe concluded, gazing at another file as she accessed it. "This says that some sort of non-profit organization approached the government and asked to take possession of the base, even before it was ordered to be shut down."

"That's impossible," Tony scoffed. "What organization?"

"It's not clear," she shook her head. Her eyes froze on a familiar name. "Quinton Travers," Chloe exclaimed. "That's the guy Jack thinks somehow is behind this. He was the one who was posing as Stanton."

Tony was firm in his disbelief. "There's something wrong with this – the government's not just gonna give up a military base, even if it is inactive. Especially if it was sensitive." He straightened out in front of the laptop as he crossed his arms tightly. "The only way something like that could ever happen is if somebody had some real power."

"Wolfram & Hart," Chloe declared as she read from the computer screen.

"Who?" Tony blurted.

She explained, "An international law firm. They represented Quinton Travers in the case brought before the head of the National Security Agency at the time…" Chloe and Tony glanced at each other immediately.

"Roger Stanton," they declared simultaneously.

"Oh, my god," Tony breathed. "This is unbelievable." Both of their heads turned away from the computer screen to the kitchen doorway as Michelle rushed in from the office, a worried look on her face.

"Guys," she breathed, "you've got to come see this."

3:49:04 A.M. PST

Willow sat on the ground of the front store with another thick reference book in her lap. Her face was full of aggravation and defeat as the non-English words on the page blurred together and her head throbbed incessantly. With a sigh of frustration, she slammed the book closed and held her aching head. She did not even notice the shadow that fell upon her face.

"Hey…" Tara declared, standing over her. "What's wrong?" Willow opened her eyes and gazed up at Tara with a surprised expression.

"Tara," she declared as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'm… I'm sorry." She sighed, "It's just…" Her temper and tone flashed with irritation as she exclaimed, "I can't take this anymore." Tara stared at her, baffled, as she began to pace back and forth. "Anya is-is in danger, and… Buffy could be killed! We don't even know who's doing all this! Not a demon, not a human – I don't understand what that means!"

"I get it, Will," Tara proclaimed with sympathy and understanding, silencing her. "It's hard when you can't use magic… when there's not an easy solution."

Willow shook her head in burning frustration, "It's… weakness!"

"It's human," Tara corrected. Willow gazed over at her, her anger dissipating. "People die," she said. "Disasters happen. But you can't control those things. We were never meant to."

As Willow continued to stare at her, she could feel a sting in her eyes. "It's so hard," she whispered, shaking her head as tears began to fall down her cheeks, "being so… useless. I never wanted to feel this way ever again. I'm powerless to do anything to save the people I love—"

"Willow," Tara shook her head seriously, as she reached over and grabbed her arm, "you're anything but powerless." Willow glanced over at her again as Tara declared with deepest conviction, "And you were never useless. You're capable of more than you could possibly imagine if you'd only find it in yourself." Tara stared at the red-haired young woman for several moments of contemplation before she added, "And you will." Willow looked at her with a puzzled expression as she explained, "You found it in me once."

3:53:32 A.M. PST

Buffy held a steel finger on the trigger of her crossbow at the ready as she stepped down the dark sewer tunnel, her boots sloshing faintly in the disgusting water. There was no necessity for stealth – they had her exactly where they wanted her.

The tunnel in which she was making her way down led into a concrete room in which six other tunnels connected. In one of the tunnels, there was a fast-moving industrial fan that blocked out the whole tunnel, blowing air which carried a sickening smell through her senses. She stared straight ahead and saw a circular hatch door made of steel standing in front of one of the tunnels, a combination lock in the dead center.

She stepped towards the center of the room, preparing for what was coming. In seconds, her predictions were assured, when seven vampires leapt out for attack. The majority of them were common vampires with bad form, dressed in army fatigues. However, there was one that she noted instantly wearing a long, black robe. He stepped back and watched the other six vampires take on the Slayer.

Buffy back-kicked one of the vampires with enough force to crack several ribs. The demon rolled back on the ground, holding his stomach in agony and he lay helpless on the floor. The Slayer shot off her first arrow, catching one of the vampires in front of her in the heart and bringing him to his demise. She felt a sharp kick down her spine as she fell to the ground, dropping her crossbow.

With a roll and a flip, she was back up on her feet as she blocked the punches and kicks of two vampires, one male and one female, in front of her at the same time. She knocked away the attempted punches and side-kicked the male vamp in the face, then spun around and backhanded the female.

The vampire woman hissed and hooked Buffy in the face, burying her knee in the Slayer's stomach. Buffy elbowed the demon in the mouth, then was grabbed from behin by another male vampire. She grabbed the vampire by the back of the neck and flipped him over her, landing on top of the female. As the third vampire came up from behind, she retrieved a stake and slammed it into his heart.

Buffy rolled across the floor, picking her crossbow back up and fired another bolt through the heart of one of the male vampires and into the heart of the female vampire behind him.

Both of them exploded into dust as the Slayer blocked a kick from another vampire. She jabbed him twice in the chest and then buried a left hook into his jaw. He recoiled immediately and kneed her in the ribs, picking her up and throwing her into the cement wall.

She lifted the crossbow up and aimed at the vampire, firing an arrow that flew directly into his hands. Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh, boy," she sighed as he snapped the arrow in his fingers. She leapt onto her feet as the vampire rushed her and she grabbed the vampire around his neck, tossing him aside into the moving blades of the industrial fan. With a roar, the demon was sliced into a column of moving dust which was blown back into the room.

Buffy paused and turned around, facing the black-robed Egyptian vampire and the still groaning vampire on the floor. "My name is Ahmed Khalifa," the thick-accented vampire declared. He pulled a wooden spike out of his robe and drove it down into the heart of the injured failure, killing him. "Tonight is your last," he added with certainty.

"Let's make it good," Buffy smiled. The two of them erupted into a frenzy of blows and blocks, but Khalifa was much faster and more agile than she had assumed. His attacks became too fast for her and she was knocked to the ground. He stomped his bare foot into her stomach, knocking the air out of her body. Buffy caught sight of a fast moving shadow as Khalifa exploded into dust, the blade of an axe slicing through his neck.

Buffy covered her fast as the dust fell around her. She opened her eyes and stared up at Xander, standing over her with a battle axe in hand. She gazed at him in bewildered silence, "What the—?"

Before she could finish, she felt a sharp pain in her neck that shot down her chest. Buffy reached up and grabbed a dart sticking out of her throat. Xander stared down at it in horror as he turned to see a wash of vampire soldiers flood the room from every open tunnel.

"Run…" she breathed as Buffy fell out of consciousness. Xander felt several hands grab him and rip him away from her, dragging the young man across the floor. He watched as they scooped Buffy up and dragged in an opposite direction. Xander looked up as the circular hatch door opened up, revealing another team of vampire soldiers with Merrick standing in front of them.

"Right on time," Merrick grinned. "Separate them."

"No!" Xander shouted as the vamp soldiers dragged her viciously into the circular hatch before they placed a black bag over his head. "No!" he yelled, his voice muffled by the back. "Buffy!"

3:58:24 A.M. PST

Jack lifted the receiver of the telephone in the training room as he glanced over at the nearly-unconscious vamp hostage still in his place against the wall. He put the receiver to his ear. "Anya?"

"Jack, it's Tony," he declared. "We've found some information."

"Tony, it'll have to wait," Jack responded. "We're expecting a call any minute."

Tony sighed, "It's probably best if it didn't wait." Jack froze as he noticed the darker tone in his voice. He gave another glance over to the vampire hostage as he continued, "Chloe and I opened the Initiative files and found out why it was shut down. A group of civilians led an attack that ended in the deaths of a lot of soldiers. It was a group, but Buffy Summers is the only name listed."

Jack shook his head in confusion. "Could be a cover story," Jack said. "I know this girl, Tony. There's no reason she would kill a bunch of people unless they were doing something to harm others."

"How well do you know her?" Tony asked.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Michelle found something else I think you should know." Tony shook his head, rubbing his hand back through his thick black hair with a tired sigh. "Buffy has a record that goes back years, beginning when she was fifteen. She was investigated for the murder of your father."

Jack looked up, dumbfounded and confused. "That's impossible," he declared in disbelief.

"Not your stepfather, Jack," Tony sorrowfully explained. "Merrick Jamison-Smyth. You're real father." At the sound of the name, Jack felt a lightning bolt of terror and rage slice through him as he gripped the receiver until it crumbled in his hand.

3:59:38 A.M. PST

Xander felt a shot of pain go through his back as he was tossed through the air and thrown onto a cement floor. His hands free, he instantly moved to remove the black hood over his head in enough time to catch a glimpse of a giant metal door slamming shut. "No!" Xander barked, scrambling to his feet. He grabbed the handle-less door and began to beat fiercely on it.

"Buffy!" he shouted. "Buffy! Can you hear me! Let me out! Leave her alone!" Xander kept burying his fists angrily into the metal door until he drew blood, so much fury and dread in every hit. Had he given Buffy away? Had he sealed Anya's fate? He had to get out to save them.

Every muscle in his body froze with as a horrid roar filled the room. Xander spun around, his back against the door and saw nothing but pitch darkness all around him. His hair stood up on end as he could hear the fierce panting of a beast nearby. He became suddenly aware that he had to get out of the room – to save himself.


3:59:58…

3:59:59…

4:00:00